Many people know about Sir Thomas More in the context of the play (and movie) A Man For All Seasons, which details the life (and death) of More, who was King Henry VIII’s Lord chancellor as well as his friend. Until he declined to publicly affirm the king’s papally unsanctioned divorce of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn. After which, in due course, King Henry had Thomas More’s head chopped off.
But More also wrote a book, which he titled Utopia – meaning no place. This is worth recalling given the modern usage of the word, which most people take to mean an ideal place.
The juxtaposition is interesting given Moore’s Utopia was an authoritarian communist society in which no one owned anything and thus everyone was the slave of everyone else, which is what communism is in practice as opposed to theory. The theory – which is rarely subjected to scrutiny by communists – is that all property is owned in common. This is an absurdity. The same species of absurdity that says “the people” rule.
Which people, exactly?
And that gets at the truth of the thing.
There is a truism that the problem with all collectives is that someone has to run them. More finely, someone – perhaps a few someones – inevitably control it. There may be some sort of “democratic” method of selecting these controllers, as via a pubic vote. But no matter the outcome of the vote, it is a fact that only a portion of the voters voted for the controllers who were elected and the rest did not. This is important because even if it is 99 percent who voted for the controllers, 1 percent didn’t and that means “the people” is a lie.
It is some of the people.
It is usually far fewer than 99 percent of them. In an American presidential election, it is – roughly 26 percent of the roughly 50 percent of the people who actually vote.
So much for “the people.” And that is in a “democracy.”
In a communist utopia it is worse because the only thing you’re allowed to vote for is communism. More finely, this communist or that communist. But communism itself is never up for a vote.
The controllers always win.
Just as the controllers in a communist society also own not just everything but also everyone. This is the fact as opposed to the theory. The theory says property is owned by everyone. Absurd. “The people” own nothing. Including themselves, for it is absurd to speak of self-ownership when you are utterly controlled by other people.
“The people” are perhaps allowed use of things that the government – which is to say, the controllers – own. Because they control those things. For example, wherever they allow those under their control to live. They may live there as long as the controllers wish to allow it.
But “the people” do not own so much as a single piece of the linoleum on the kitchen floor.
On the other hand, the controllers effectively own everything – precisely because they control it. Stalin’s many houses – these were called dachas – were technically “Soviet state property.” But because Stalin controlled the government, they were effectively his property. “The people” did not get to use this property, notwithstanding the risible assertion that “the people” owned all of the property in the Soviet Union.
This is how it goes in the real utopias created by communists.
More’s utopia, on the other hand, was a place that didn’t exist because it could not exist. At least, not in the sense that communist societies exist. Moore’s utopia is the kind of place communists assert can exist and that communism’s useful idiots believe can exist but which never has and never will exist, because there can never be such as thing as common ownership of property and “equality” of condition.
The majority can be rendered equally enslaved, impoverished, stifled and miserable. But there will always be the controllers – who enslave and impoverish and stifle and make miserable the majority while they themselves enjoy the things that most people in societies not yet beset by the cancer that is communism either actually do have or can have, if they have the willingness to work for it.
Because they are not enslaved, which means that when they work, they enjoy the rewards of that work – as opposed to being made to work so that what they work for can be taken away from them by the people who control things in a communist society. Which renders pointless the work. Which is why – in a communist system – “the people” are forced to work, often for those who don’t.
Which is a very good working definition of slavery.
More’s point in writng his book was to skotch the idea that the kind of utopia envisioned previously by Plato – and late by Marx and currently by the inheritors of Marx – could ever exist in fact and yet latter-day utopians continue to seek it. This suggests that either they do not really understand or that they really do understand – and hope the useful idiots never do.
Or at least, don’t – until it no longer matters whether they understand it.
. . .
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You have perfectly described the Castros’ communist dictatorship in Cuba. I lived every word, every sentence and every paragraph in this article while growing up in Cuba.
Hi Jose,
I’n glad you were able to get out of there – and I’m happy to know you’ve found our little corner of the Internet!
In my youth, someone who was brought up in a progressive school system, i could remember my classmates say ,”communism is hood in theory.” Its just that the right kind wasnt practiced in the USSR. Of course, Chiiina was a little better, according to them. This was before the Tiennemen Squaare massacre. Im sure there would have been a stunned silence as these left wing fuckers tried to regroup in the late 80s.
I didnt know enough to ask these knuckleheads what inventions came from communist societies, as free ones developed the infrastructure that kept their society from imploding.
Good in theory, my ass.
PM’s new $4.3m mansion the final straw for Aussies struggling in a cost-of-living crisis
Living off tax slave’s stolen money
https://www.rebelnews.com/pm_s_new_4_3m_mansion_the_final_straw_for_aussies_struggling_in_a_cost_of_living_crisis
This world would be a better place if everyone were more like me.
I think a majority, if not all people, have this attitude. Even the most evil among us. Ask a friend if it’s true for them. Is it built into us, genetically?
Society’s problems owe mostly to human psychology. Densely packed psychoses, getting denser and more psycho by the decade. They did experiments on mice. Densely packed mice went crazy, went gay. One cannot but notice certain similarities.
If I had more digital abilities, I would create a meme of a guy walking into Walmart, looking around at the hordes of zombies and slowly morphing into Klaus Schwab.
There’s no room in our lives and lands for freedom these days. There are too many around who think you should live and think like them. “Screw your freedom!” says the Terminator. Freedom…Only in our minds. The final frontier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg
“his world would be a better place if everyone were more like me.
I think a majority, if not all people, have this attitude. Even the most evil among us. Ask a friend if it’s true for them. Is it built into us, genetically?”
Doubt It. Evil people by default hate people like themselves. If you want to be supreme emperor then there cannot be another one. Nobility comes to mind ,Bankers ,narcissists…
If every single person on planet acted like you would humans perish or live worse?
Does your ideal system grant special rights to you compared to others?
If answer to this questions is Yes you are evil.
[…] by Eric Peters […]
“The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting.” Charles Bukowski
Utopia?….hell for the white tribes….
Eva Vlaardingerbroek at CPAC Hungary: The Great Replacement Is No Longer A Theory, It’s Reality
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/04/27/eva_vlaardingerbroek_at_cpac_hungary_the_great_replacement_is_no_longer_a_theory_its_reality.html
Replace Kommiela with Eva….
Thanks for those pictures of Stalin’s dacha Eric,
Some animals are indeed more equal than others. Would be nice to put that pic and a picture of Obummer’s compound on Martha’s Vineyard next to each other on the front page of every publication in the USSA so the people can see where we’re headed.
Thanks, Mike – and I wish I’d thought to put a juxtaposition pic of Barry’s mansion in the article!
It is ironic, in that when Gorbachev got the United States, and visited an ordinary, run-of-the-mill grocery store in Dallas, Texas, for ordinarily plebs, it was better than the grocery stores for the elite back in the Soviet Union. I knew of 2 people who were from then USSR, who-when they saw the mountains of produce at the grocery store, had to literally sit down and cry. One, an older man, was weeping, all the while repeatedly saying, “they lied to me”. Sadly, he believed the Communist Utopia lies(he knew of nothing else) until he fled, and saw the real truth. What I find alarming and sad, is how we (the United States) is rapidly heading in that direction. Humans truly never learn from history. Only in this case, such people know better, and they still want slavery instead of freedom. Which is their choice, but they demand and what their choice to me mine, as well.
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
It was Trofim Lysenko who screwed up everything in the Soviet states, otherwise, communism would have worked.
The world’s greatest pseudoscientist and crackpot nonpareil.
The guy was a nut.
Just a few words of encouragement and some inspiration, communists hone the art of killing millions, those millions killed is always for their own good, more convenient that way.
If there is a living analogy, Albert Bourla wins the pseudoscience award for the 21st Century, a kook who has caused plenty of harm to the human race. The Lysenko Award for Pseudoscience, go with that.
Fair comparison.
Heaven’s Gate was a utopia, everybody was dead.
Buy a pair of Nikes and you are on the Stairway to Heaven. The de-nutted Marshall Applewhite masterminded it all.
Bibi is Marshall Applewhite, kike style. Instead, all of Israel is being castrated, Bibi’s fault.
Those rockets raining down on Israel look like fire and brimstone, something the Jews might want to think about.
You gotta wear Nikes, not masks, to get to Heaven, be in with the in crowd.
Always somebody else’s fault. Most likely, it is your fault that Kamala is running the show, stumbling all the way and back again.
Gaza is a utopia, probably remains so for a long time now. The cemeteries in Ukraine are new utopias.
One good thing about war and wars, enough will die and then the fighting will wane, then an end.
14,000 Palestinians under the age of one years-old will cause anger among the Palestinian population, the fight will continue, not really going to stop, full bore at the moment and then to the next. Ain’t gonna be much peace anytime soon over there.
Might take a few years, bomb everything into submission for thousands of square miles, it’ll be utopia by then.
Aleppo is a utopia. So what if it is all in ruins? At this point, what difference does it make?
Winter is going to get here for sure, snowbirds are flocking to Arizona and the south coast of Texas. Florida is an iffy place these days, snowbirds beware.
I rented a motel room in Daytona Beach along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. I had to pay a whole nine dollars for a one night stay. The door to the room was more or less a screen door. I didn’t feel threatened or nuffin.
It was a different America back then.
You know you are in Florida when you’re there.
The weather was good, you can stay on the move. Roadside stands sold Florida oranges, the things were big as a grapefruit and even tasted like oranges. Amazing.
In the morning, you shuffle along. I was hitchhiking, you then get a feel for the zen of motorcycle maintenance.
Did it for the adventure, nothing else. Had the time and some money to make it happen. I know, it was dangerous, but that’s life. Yes, I made it back to my job and went back to work.
And the shrimpers and their ladies are out in the beer joints
Drinkin’ ’em down ‘fore they sail with the dawn
They’re bound for the Mexican Bay of Campeche
And the deck hands are singin’, “Adios Jole Blon” – Guy Clark, South Coast of Texas
Seeing Stalin’s dacha makes me wanna watch “The Death of Stalin” again.
Excellent article, Eric.
Great article. This site is acting up again. Freezes browser. Someone doesnt like us.
Thanks, Rain – for the compliment and the geads up; will look into it. To all: Please let me know whether any of you are also having problems…
Thank you, Eric. What a terrific article. Stalin’s dacha is such a perfect example to steelman More’s assertions. Also, for those of you who haven’t, you should watch A Man For All Seasons. One of my favorite scenes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGsm1GgCsXw&ab_channel=BosqueVillage
Not utopia….prison planet….
Re: our current slave system….
Justinian the Emperor of Rome from about 527 to 565 AD…set up the legal system to control the slaves…it is still in use today….
Justinian’s project was to set up a modern slavery system….it is based on the slavery system the ancient Pharaohs used…..using maritime law…he set up a new legal system to control the slaves….
maritime law…our current legal system…..used to control the slaves…
In a master slave system…the slave is the property of the master….the slave owner…they can kill the slave…….
https://odysee.com/@theglossachannel:b/Reading_from_his_personal_notes_Romley_Stewart_addresses_the_key_points_of_the_Justinian_Deception-yt-mirror:3
The government….a branch of the control group…. gives their sovereign power to the agw (who are citizens)…the enforcers…to enforce their so called laws….the hammer….
NOTE…They enforce policies, regulations, statutes and other fancy words but NOT LAW
Under a more fair common law system…(not the current system)….where you would only be charged if you caused harm….you would be entitled to a trial by jury by your peers…that is gone now…replaced by jury trial…which is a different animal based on French law…
Even a crappy, rigged jury trial is hard to get now…the slaves are screwed….
NOTE: They had to get rid of …trial by jury by your peers…because a feature of it is….the law is on trial too….the jury can decide it is an unjust law and cancel/end/throw out…. the law….
A million trials by jury by your peers…is needed to get rid of all these….policies, regulations, statutes…unjust laws….
https://odysee.com/@januszkowalskii1979:e/Insights-Into-Unidroit-and-Sovereign-Citizens-(Romley-Stewart-Justinian-Deception)-pt1:7
Eric, great Libertarianism article on Communism. I would say all governments, no matter how noble their original intentions, trend toward absolute power and thus absolute ownership of your person and thus all governments are either Communist or trending toward that inevitable conclusion, where the state owns and controls everything, and you and your rights are marginalized and eventually you and your rights eliminated – as they stand in the way of total control.
The current election is a good example – twin lunatics vie for power – “The Kamal” or Kackula as I call her, is an outright insurrectionist and Communist, and is trending around 50% of the vote, while the other, a Zionist Orange Orang Douchebag wants to make the foreign state of Israel first while proclaiming MAGA. No one gets to vote for “None Of The Above”. If NOTA wins, the election must start over with all new candidates.
quote: “In a communist utopia it is worse because the only thing you’re allowed to vote for is communism. More finely, this communist or that communist. But communism itself is never up for a vote.”
That observation is true in Amerika, we do not have a choice to vote the state out. You have two statist candidates to choose from, Zionist Whore A or Zionist Whore B. Neither is acceptable, as no whore for Israel (or any other foreign state or bankster like Wrathchild) should be allowed to run, let alone rule. Both Biden and Trump should be in prison who giving Israel weapons and money when Israel did 911. Supporting Israel is treasonous and insane. Trump murdered Soleimani, and should be cuffed, stuffed, and sent to Iran for trial and execution. Biden should hang alongside Bibi for genocide.
By what “right” does Amerika have in meddling in other nation’s affairs? Who gave our politicians to give money to foreign powers for wars and economic aggression? Where in our Constitution was Statism legalized? Where did Trump get the legal power to whack a foreign head of state, invited by our own State Department to Baghdad on a peace mission, then kill him with a Hellfire missile shot from a Predator Drone?
My god man, what the hell has happened to us and our government when such events are normalized and brushed off as nothing? Amerika is already a mudbrid shithole, on the way to total destruction. It can not be saved. There are no saviors coming to save us, not Trump, not Jesus, not Almighty God himself. In fact, I joke all the time that God should apologize to Sodom and Gommorah if Amerika is not burned to a crisp for allowing and practicing sodomy and transgendersim. Amerika is far more immoral than Sodom and Gommorah. Think about it, those ancient evil cities were only evil for practicing homosex. Amerika is full of homos, trannies, and evil deeds done dirt cheap to foreign nations who stand in the way of American hedonism and hegemony.
What Israel is doing to the Palestinians right now is worse than any bloodlust story in the Old Testament. And 100 million Zioniost Evangelical loons support Israeli caused genocide because they think they must support Israel to get into heaven. By what Gospel verse is that established? Just think, most fervent Bible believers in lunatic asylum Amerika are supporting genocidal policies because they are utter moral fruitcakes. Why would Jesus let you into heaven when you supported the genocide of His people, the Palestinians?
It is my observation that Amerika is coast to coast lunacy. Climate lunacy, foreign intervention lunacy, religious lunacy, sexual degenerates, money debasement, criminal politicians, morally bankrupt preachers, lying MSM journalists, and Bull Dykes. LOL The Pentacon has no problem recruiting criminals for it’s criminal wars, as Amerika is a nation of criminals, as illustrated in this movie clip:
Blazing Saddles (9/10) Movie CLIP – Mugs, Pugs and Thugs (1974) HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLpmswBKVN4
The one thing I fear most, is that that whining tranny Kamal wins and we have to listen to her voice for the next 4 years, which is worse than the fingernails on the chalkboard.
Yes Virginia, the Kamal is a tranny, as proven by this photograph: https://i.imgur.com/0F21iOd.jpeg
click on the image for an extra large image of Kamal’s penis bulge under her dress
This should NOT be hard to believe. First of all she got ahead in politics by giving Willie Brown head in San Francisco – a city full of gays and trannies. SFO, in fact, is wall to wall trannies. Kamal is just another one, no different than First Lady Big Mike. LOL Degenerate sexual pervs are being normalized in morally debased Amerika, the new Sodom and Gommorah.
1). Who cares?
2). So what?
3). So is Blaire White, and I’d probably for her, if she were running.
Kumswalla being a trans testicles is a bigger stretch than her trainwreck of a neck.
We’ve had, at last count, 45 dickheads in the Oval Office since the constitutional convention. What’s one more?
History of LGBQT running the control group….
https://ugetube.com/watch/arrogance-is-the-mother-of-ignorance-by-sean-hross_DxX7Enx55PYO3AK.html
On my ballot there is not a choice of two. There are seven
candidates for president. Kind of simple – if few voted
for either of the “twins” they wouldn’t be elected.
Hi liberty,
The paradox – or rather, the trap – is that as individuals we feel (with reason) our one vote is of no matter, especially if it is “wasted” on a third party candidate we feel (with cause) few others will vote for. So most of us vote for one of the two major party candidates. And so the cycle continues. It may be the only way out is to literally get out. But where to?
Hi Eric,
“But where to?”
Who would ever want to leave this socialist
paradise we live in? I’m ecstatic to be able
to contribute my fair share to the federal,
state, county, and local, extortionists.
In good conscience, I can’t vote for any of them.
Voting Armageddon is an offer I’m refusing.
Make mine libertarian.
From Spike Jones’ “Der Fuhrer’s Face”, as reprise in that hilarious 1943 Disney cartoon, starring Donald Duck:
“Iss dis Nutzi land zo gut? Vould yoy leaff it if you could?”
https://youtu.be/bn20oXFrxxg?si=1MSLm58zq1HZ5UgE
“But where to?”
I’m not going anywhere. I was born here and I’ll die here. On my feet, in defiance of the bastards.
What is that old saying, Eric? If voting mattered, they (TPTB) would not let us do so?
There’s a great book by Lewis Mumford (probably more than 50 years old now) on the history of utopias….both imagined and implemented ones. I read it many years ago. I still remember my overall take-away from it; that any “utopia” was only a utopia for those who desired to live in a particular manner, and therefore there is no room for anyone who dissents or desires to pursue their own course, or who disagrees with the rulers whether they be a dictator, council or the opinion of the majority.
Even if one believed that the particular way of life pursued by any given utopia were ideal , the implementation, perpetuation and politics of the utopia always guaranteed that these supposed utopias would devolve into nothing more than utter ruin at best, or slavery at worst.
Communism does not work. It can not work. It is nothing but a means of subjugating other humans and making slaves of them. The closest we could ever come to utopia would be a world with no government, where everyone is free to pursue their own interests, and is prepared to live with the consequences or rewards of their own choices and actions.
Many of us can find utopia when and where we are relatively free. Many others will never under any conditions find utopia or even any sort of reasonable existence because of themselves. It is usually the latter who want to dictate how the former should live, as they must see that misery is distributed equally.
The white tribes in Europe had their own little utopia…they lived happily in their little villages, in their mud and straw huts….no cellphones or surveillance tech……then along came the control group…genocided and enslaved them….2000 years later…they are still enslaved…but…the control group has convinced them they aren’t slaves….
These white slaves today are scapegoated…blamed for everything wrong in the world…called racists, invaders, victimizers, colonizers, etc…they are now being eliminated….replaced by replacement slaves…the end….
The white tribes were the ones that were, invaded, victimized, colonized, by racists….but…the satanic control group always invert everything….
Evil (as represented by the satanic control groupis certainly the inversion of good. Its becoming readily apparent Good can exist without evil, evil cant exist without good. Time to withdraw our consent and stop propping up evil
“Time to withdraw our consent and stop propping up evil”
right….slave revolt needed….
It was said that before the “manifest destiny” days there were army deserters who would find their way to Indian tribes. At the time the tribes would welcome them. The white men found the lifestyle compelling, take a wife and become members, dances with wolves style. Turns out the hunter-gatherer life isn’t all that bad, especially when you can roam up and down the whole of the Colorado freely.
I dunno about there ever being utopia in Europe. In fairy tales it seemed so, but in reality, between the monarchies and the Catholic church (and the craftsmen guilds, etc.)…it was more like the agrarian version of Dickensian hell.
The white tribes in Europe had their own little utopia…they lived happily in their little villages, in their mud and straw huts…up until about 2000 years ago…..
This was before the monarchies…the control group…including the church…about 2000 years ago….invaded…genocided and enslaved them…but those tribes have no history…they never wrote anything down….
Those white tribes were great warriors…the best…..the Romans attacked them…big mistake…the white tribes from Germany followed the Romans back to Rome and defeated them…..a great example of the control group getting their ass kicked….defeated….
The slave owning control group genocided and enslaved the white tribes 2000 years ago….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKOqvvdbmps
This is the most dangerous time in history for the members of the white tribes….the slave owning control group has targeted them for replacement…disposal….part of agenda 2030….
This video goes into detail on the progress of this agenda….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVhuBGLUbpQ
“Many of us can find utopia when and where we are relatively free. Many others will never under any conditions find utopia or even any sort of reasonable existence because of themselves. It is usually the latter who want to dictate how the former should live, as they must see that misery is distributed equally.”
Beautifully written.
The power rankings of America’s fiscally responsible governors for 2024.
https://www.cato.org/white-paper/fiscal-policy-report-card-americas-governors-2024#highest-scoring-governors
No surprise that the Top 10, 9 out of 10 are Republican. Also, noticeable that 3 out of the Top 5 are also women. Apparently, conservative women can handle a checkbook. 🙂 The Asses pick for Veep is dead last.
Most plebs own nothing except the cloths on their backs and even that is debatable.
Freedom is the backbone of ownership. As freedom goes so goes ownership and along with it, prosperity and wealth. Slaves are not wealthy nor happy. Any wealth created goes to their masters.
America was a free economic powerhouse jammed packed full of entrepreneurs and inventors. People free do do things. Then came the slave taxes and a central bank to transfer wealth and property to a select few. Freedom went the way of safety. Slowly but surely ownership became renter-ship,,, public servants became masters of the universe. Note how they smile when you write out that check… to them.
Don’t pay your ‘fair’ share of your income,,, go to jail. Don’t pay what’s called property tax,,, lose rights to the property—- then maybe off to jail. Don’t pay registration and license fees,,, can’t drive your property on ‘public roads —- then maybe to jail. Don’t pay for building permit to repair their house —– fines and then off to jail. Don’t agree with your owners (government) you are censored, possibly arrested and sent to jail. See any commonality?
Land of the free,,, home of the brave? Yes, you are free to do what your masters say and you are brave if you fight for your masters property called wars. Wars are nothing more than masters of the universe vying for each others slaves and property and spilling your blood to get it. Notice they all sit in their shiny offices directing you when, where and who to fight other slaves whose masters are doing the same. It comes down to who runs out of slaves and equipment first.
Some day maybe, humans will figure out they don’t need these masters to direct them.
Don’t forget that because these scarce resources are, well, scarce, someone has to divvy them up. Of course it’s going to be the psychopaths in charge, led by their scientific reasoning that just happens to make sure they get theirs first. Unless it’s something that isn’t really necessary but keeps the masses quiet, like alcohol (or other psychoactive drugs that half the population is consuming daily).
Maybe the only reason for no revolution…the slaves on prozac and many other drugs….
Like during the bat germ hoax lockdowns….zero response…..maybe a few truckers …..who got smashed, assets seized…..
Superb article today, Eric.
Thanks, Mister!
It must have been that second pot of coffee…
“The theory – which is rarely subjected to scrutiny by communists – is that all property is owned in common”
The theory is very nice but will never work on earth where there is this thing called “competition for resources”. In heaven this theory will work. Heaven is a place where we will not be in want of anything. On earth however, we(humans) need to eat, get shelter and get clothed. Heaven on earth is a dream.
The reason Communism did not work in certain countries, so say the Communists is that these countries were poor and uneducated. Here in America Communism will finally work because here the people are rich and very educated.
“Here in America Communism will finally work because here the people are rich and very educated.”
For a little while…
[For a little while…] Mark
Socialism works great until you run out of other peoples money.
M Thatcher. (Last PM of the UK)
The only reason it hasn’t worked is because the right people, AKA stunning and brave, haven’t been in charge
I love watching glimpses of history through National Geographic or the History Channel. I find it fascinating seeing the old architecture and how these buildings were erected and have stood the test of time.
What I find equally as compelling is the psychological impact of how these men lived. Were they psychopaths and sociopaths? Absolutely. But, they also understood that they were mortal. Stalin weren’t allow area rugs because he wanted to be able to hear footsteps coming his way, the underground bunkers, soundproof walls, and bulletproof everything. I have no sympathy for evil, but imagine having to wake up and go to sleep everyday knowing many people want you dead, constantly listening for squeaks and creaks, acknowledging that a trip outside to your gardens could be your last. Also, not being able to trust those around you who are there to protect you and could turn on you at anytime. Most dictators are brought down from within. You can see how these men are paranoid and schizophrenic. Is the power and money worth it? To some it seems the answer is yes. There is no amount of money in the world that could get me to live like that and the head games that it imposes.
Stalin was paranoid because he knew exactly how terribly he was treating people, and expected retaliation.
I suspect we will see much the same from our own Psychopaths In Charge after they drop the hammer on us. In other words, any day now.
Hi John,
All very true. The question is if they know people want their head why continue to do people harm? They know what their doing is evil, but they continue to do it anyway. I believe a delusional person would not be as cautious in their surroundings or suffer from paranoia believing (irrationally and unreasonably) that they were doing good in the world.
It is ironic, in that Lenin warned before his death about having Stalin in power and no one listened to him. Now, I read of many Stalin apologists who simply refuse to acknowledge what a horrible ruler he was (out pacing Hitler in the body count). For if they did, they would have to admit Communism failed, and that they had some 70-odd years of misery, poverty, starvation, and murder after their “Revolution” that made their existence even worse than being under the Romanov rulers.
And his dacha was hideous.
As the 2017 movie “Death of Stalin” implies, many believe that fellow Georgian and long time NKVD chief Laurenty Beria poisoned him. Whether he got his old friend before he was taken out himself is debatable.
But not just the old bastard, but everyone close to him that benefitted, shown in the movie being ruthlessly “liquidated” by “blue caps” (NKVD officers). As an officer whom several running minutes later also gets a round to the temple, quips when he sees several Stalin doubles being herded on a waiting truck, “looks like their contracts are up!” Even the bewildered old serving woman who’d cheerfully bring the First Secretary his meals is led away, either to the Lubyanka or herself to be shot…no “tell-all” books, I suppose!
‘Which people [rule], exactly?’ — eric
An Irish MP offers a plausible hypothesis:
https://youtu.be/H21edCN3Q7c
You can bet the alien child murderers will be back next January, hat in hand,
askingordering the new Clowngress to cough up a fresh $50 billion to fund their genocidal spree.Not a single one will dare to take a principled stand as this Irish MP did. If JFK wrote his book today, it would have to be titled Profiles in Perfidy. 🙁
He’ll either have an “accident” or be set up with a teenage prostitute.
Lennin knew immediately that communism would fail on its own. No man will work for the benefit of others unless at the point of a gun. Lennin had to create a slave state to extract the labor via the Gulag system.
So how does the USA extract the human effort of its citizens? We store our human efforts in the form of monetary value. The state extracts it via taxes or else the threat is the same…violence and prison. It was sold to the public in 1913 in that income taxes would only be paid by the rich ($11MM or greater in today’s dollars). Sold as get something for free and the other guy pays for it… whomever that is.
Marxism.
[Sidebar: the Soviet people learned fast in that Lennin caused a famine, no one works hard to have it taken from you. Then there was a brief period after Lennin with Stalin allowed the people to retain more of their efforts until another purge started in the early 30’s. Rather than have their cattle taken from them, which is all they had of value, the Kulaks killed them to the tune of 30mm livestock. They rather starve than give the Marxist their plunder.]
“No man will work for the benefit of others unless at the point of a gun”
Man will work for the benefit of his immediate family (blood related) but yes he will not work for the benefit of others unless paid to do it. Communism will work but only in the immediate family but even there everyone is expected to pitch in with housework.
Goin’ deep this morning!
Ownership, or being a slave or not isn’t the ultimate problem. Ownership is the solution. If one doesn’t own anything, there’s no reason to want anything.
The promise of Communism is a return to the garden of Eden. No worries, no cares, just a static existence in harmony with God (or your fellow man). But note that only worked when there was only one man and one God. Once there was more than one human… well, you know the rest.
But who wants a static world? The Cubans and their 1950s cars. The Russian tube factories (please don’t piss on my point by turning this into a thread about how “superior” tubes are over transistors. They’re expensive crap. Get over it). Chinese copyright violation on an epic scale. Nothing new comes of Communism. Because no one gets to keep what they make. And when the 5 year plan calls for building, well, they didn’t say anything about quality, just quantity. The Russians kept QC high by threatening to run you off to the gulag. The Chinese are dealing with Tofu Dreg construction. How long will Xi put up with buildings tumbling because the party appointed construction company cut corners?
There’s the old tale of the space pen. The story goes that the astronauts used a pen that was engineered to work in the weightlessness of space. It took hundreds of man-hours to design and produce. Each pen cost millions of dollars. Meanwhile the cosmonauts used pencils. This was completely wrong but for a while it went around the Internet as a nice story about the foibles of government spending or the can-do attitude of the Soviets. Reality is that NASA used pencils and grease markers but found them to be a big problem because leads would break, becoming hazards in weightless environments. Fisher pen developed the space pen, using their own R&D and presented it to NASA at a cost of $2.39 each ($23.18 in 2023 inflated dollars). Not cheap, but still Fisher took on all the risk, there was no guarantee they’d succeed after all. In the end the Russians bought the space pens too. And Fisher made back their investment and much more by selling the pens as a useful tool on Earth with a built-in marketing campaign.
And of course, if you don’t own it, you’re not responsible when it goes kerflooey. The people who authorized and ran the Chernobyl plant only got 10 years for their negligence. But of course the thousands of people who lived in the area received no compensation for having to abandon their homes (some never left and seem to be still living to a ripe old age, but that’s for another time), and there were no civil lawsuits for damages. Meanwhile the lawyers and regulators had a field day with the aftermath of Three Mile Island unit TMI-2, even though there are no documented cases of ANY ill effects in the area after decades of study. This has effectively frozen nuclear power in the United States, bringing it under a Soviet style central plan. There are lots of good ideas for nuclear power plants, most of them designed in a way that they cannot melt down, but we’ll never know because the DOE says нет!
Actually a much simpler story to why NASA went to the trouble of engineering an ink pen that’d function in zero-Gee. The Mercury and Gemini capsules, to deal with pressure differential and keep the weight light, used a pure oxygen atmosphere. Obviously things like fine graphite may spontaneously combust, hence why Von Braun would say, “pencils sind Verboten “. The tragic Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, that took the lives of Roger Chaffee, Gus Grissom, ans Ed White showed the folly of a pure oxygen environment, and subsequent craft were redesigned to use a normal air mixture.
Remember all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. Eric Blair aka George Orwell
In some ways we are living under such a system today. As mentioned back in the 50’s that once the people that do all of the work and pay all the taxes realize it; what will happen next? They will either work less or stop entirely.
That’s already starting to become evident. There’s not much of a difference between retiring early or going Galt. I don’t mind working but not as a serf.
Indeed, Landru –
We discuss this pretty often lately. That is, bailing out to the deep country and living homestead-style and no longer being subject to taxes since we would stop working. But it’s a pretty utopian ideal, alas.
Yet that was, for about 200 years, the American Dream and millions were able to live it. The historian Frederic Jackson Turner offered the “frontier thesis” — what made America unique and distinct was the frontier. Alas, he declared the frontier settled in 1893.
People fail to recognize the importance of spatial freedom in the American context. “Freedom” literally mean the government leaves me the hell alone and I am literally on my own — to either make millions or die an ignominious death like the Donner Party, and no one is either coming to hassle me or to rescue me either way. The government had no authority to tax income until 1913.
You would never stop working, though. You’d work for yourself, not for someone else.
Few people today are willing to take those kind of chances. People do and did trade freedom for security and comfort. Once a system is in place, it is a question of who doles out what rewards to whom. As Harold Lasswell wrote, it becomes a question of “who gets what, when and how.”